That video that is spoken of is the official video for Time, The camera crew was just there to film that clip and probably used the previous tracks to rehearse..... "you're in a Video....Garry's Video" pretty funny... I saw the band live just before this in Adelaide (twice at the Old lion hotel) they were in fine form..
One of my best friends is a huge INXS fan, and he’s told me a few times over the years that Switch really is a pretty good album and I should give it more of a chance. So, at his prompting, I’ve tried this album a few times over the years, but I’ve just never been able to get into it. Honestly, I’m not totally sure why… Maybe it’s because I simply can’t get past the fact that Michael’s not singing. Maybe the songs didn’t do it for me. Maybe I just moved on and wasn’t interested anymore. Gonna try Switch again thanks to this thread and everyone’s awesome feedback. Who knows? Maybe all these years later it’ll finally click with me.
I bought Switch when it came out and played it a fair bit, but I never go back to it. There are some decent songs ("Pretty Vegas," "Afterglow") but something like "Devil's Party" just seems like such a pastiche of familiar INXS motifs. I also had no idea so many of the songs were cowrites with hit doctors like Desmond Child and the Matrix. That said, I think the band was already on a downward trajectory creatively when Michael died (I'm not much of an Elegantly Wasted fan) so to me it's about on par with that album.
Switch -- 3.5/5. I wish they would do an expanded version of this album as there are songs from that time released as taster singles which never appeared again. I do like some songs, Hungry stands out for me. That is pure INXS. Written only by Andrew, it has that INXS gift I love. The album is not bad at all. The ghost of Michael just hangs over the whole proceedings.
Switch: This one I didn't own until recently. I pretty much ignored it when it first came out due to me losing interest in the band around that time. I do recall hearing the songs: Afterglow, Devil's Party. & Pretty Vegas on the radio; As decent as they were, it just wasn't enough to motivate me to buy the album. Listening to it recently, it's okay, not exactly breaking any new ground from what I hear. Nonetheless, looking forward to the song by song analysis and perhaps give me a better insight on the album.
I was still indifferent towards INXS for continuing on without Michael Hutchence by this point. And I didn't even listen to Switch until the spring of 2006, nearly 6 months after it was released. It definitely grew on me. And despite the numerous outside songwriters involved and a few semi-good tunes and one clunker, I eventually accepted Switch for what it was and still is...a fairly solid classic pop rock INXS album. I also finally accepted JD Fortune as INXS' new lead singer, who, at least at the time, was clearly was the right man for the job. But to be honest, I'm still kind of ambivalent towards them continuing after MH passed. But it is what it is. Switch doesn't see INXS trying to experiment too much, nor does it attempt to do anything other re-introduce many of the classic elements that made INXS a household name nearly 2 decades prior - not that that's necessarily a bad thing. In fact, they wouldn't start experimenting until the next album... On a commercial level, worldwide results varied quite a lot and the album wasn't even released in the UK/Europe until nearly a year later. But it was startling how successful Switch was in Canada, as it's now their 2nd biggest selling studio album, next to Kick. Not only were INXS filling/selling out arenas again, which they hadn't done here since the X tour in 1991, but they were out-grossing the Canadian markets they played on the Kick and X tours by around DOUBLE. And they wound up playing 31 shows here on their 2006-2007 Switched On tour - which is virtually unheard of for almost any artist, even domestic ones. And INXS played Vancouver 3 times. I saw them the 2nd time through on June 1, 2006, in front of nearly 11,000 fans at GM Place, and thoroughly enjoyed the show...
Devil's Party. At the devil's party nothing's a sin At the devil's party we know where you've been If we're all right then tell me who's wrong The love in a war, where do we belong? I might believe it's love, you might believe it's war At the devil's party there's no light from the sun At the devil's party, now, life's a loaded gun More or less? No, less is more Go on and be my guest Where do we belong? I might believe it's love, you might live a little more Dreams of yours, dreams of mine Dreams of all that shine on the other side, on the other side At the devil's party watch them stare in vain At the devil's party, now, you're no friend of mine Oh, lonely days of the road to excess When you're on fire you burn like the rest I might believe it's love, and you might believe it's war Why don't we take a little less? Then we could live a little more Dreams of yours, dreams of mine Dreams of all that breathe on the other side, on the other side Songwriters: Andrew Keresztes / Guy Thomas Devil's Party lyrics © BMG Rights Management This is fairly interesting musically, it has more of a horn section, than sax leads and licks. I think the melodic structure works pretty well. I think a few listens, and as a song this could probably work its way under my skin. I am finding JD's vocals terribly distracting though.... it is the first time I have ever really heard this guy, and he just sounds like he is aping Michael, and that is kind of reducing this to feeling like I am in Vegas listening to an impersonator, rather than listening to the new album from some Aussie legends ... that may be a poor way of looking at it, but at this stage I can't help it. There is nothing wrong with the song, but the vocal sounds like Michael by numbers, and it really isn't working for me.
Devil's Party 3/5. The lyrics seem to be written by a third grader. The music is okay, but it is wall paper music really.
I love the quick intro, variety of saxophone, horn accompaniments & rhythm guitar parts here - especially the interplay between the minor, minor 7th & minor 9th chords. Very melodic. JD sounds fantastic here. Lyrically, it's intriguing enough but it's certainly not a topic that hasn't been sung about before. Regardless, The Devil's Party is a classic pop rock song...
The opening Devil’s Party very much tries to replicate the Kick sound. The tight rhythm, saxophone lines, and overall sound is very reminiscent of the band’s earlier work; it’s not breaking new ground but that’s not the purpose of this album. It seems like a dark love song. I like it.
Devil's Party: It's catchy and it does have that INXS feel to it. Aside from channeling Micheal's voice, JD does a great job with his vocal delivery on this solid opening track.
Afterglow. Single by INXS from the album Switch Released 25 April 2006 Genre Bhangra, soft rock Length 4:09 Label Epic Songwriter(s) Andrew Farriss, Desmond Child Producer(s) Guy Chambers Released in April 2006 as the second single from the band's eleventh studio album, Switch. Weekly charts Chart (2006) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[7] 24 Canada (Canadian Singles Chart) 3 US Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks 20 Here I am, lost in the light of the moon that comes through my window Bathed in blue, the walls of my memory divide the thorns from the roses It's you and the roses Touch me and I will follow in your afterglow Heal me from all this sorrow As I let you go I will find my way when I see your eyes Now I'm living in your afterglow Here I am, lost in the ashes of time, but who wants tomorrow? In between the longing to hold you again I'm caught in your shadow, I'm losing control My mind drifts away, we only have today Touch me and I will follow in your afterglow Heal me from all this sorrow As I let you go I will find my way I will sacrifice 'til the blinding day when I see your eyes Now I'm living in your afterglow When the veils are gone as I let you go, as I let you go Touch me and I will follow in your afterglow Heal me from all this sorrow As I let you go I will find my way, I will sacrifice Now I'm living in your afterglow Bathed in blue, the walls of my memory divide the thorns from the roses It's you who is closest Songwriters: Desmond Child / Andrew Farriss Afterglow lyrics © Deston Songs Llc, Deston Songs, Llc Here I find this a much more listenable song.... JD seems to be singing as himself here. I don't here this and think this is a Michael impersonator, he is delivering his own voice and in context with the song and its meaning it makes it all the more poignant, because in line with the lyrics, it is a believable vocal.... How difficult it would be for someone to step into the shoes of a major rock star who has died, is something that only that person would feel..... and although it certainly happens, there are few people that have really ever experienced this.... This is co-written with Desmond Child, who was a big ticket writer in the late seventies and early eighties, and this track shows he hadn't lost his touch for writing hit quality material. I think lyrically this touches the heart, and manages to share the kind of emotion one would expect in a situation like this. I think this is a thoughtful and expressive lyric that works. Musically it is not a complex song, but i8t is extremely effective. The vocal delivery is tender and melodic and manages to capture the emotion required to sell this song and idea to me. This is probably the first track that I have heard so far that convinces me that this was a chance of being a worthwhile union. It doesn't sound like someone trying to sound like Inxs, it sounds like a good song, written and delivered in heartfelt manner, and achieving what anyone writing a song should be trying to achieve.
The album’s first ballad, Afterglow, gives our new vocalist a chance to show a different side. He does well, but the song itself falls flat for me with a rather uninvolving melody.
Afterglow is quite an emotionally-charged ballad. The dynamics here are spectacular. There's a perfect flow of uplifting qualities and rich vocal and musical instrumentation. Jon's polyrhythmic beats pop up temporarily and syncopation follows in the interlude, which adds a nice flavour to the track and thankfully, isn't over-done. These elements underscore the song incredibly well. Nothing to dislike here. And an obvious single choice...
Afterglow: I remember this song got some serious airplay on the local alternative station that I listened to at the time. I would say it's a pretty decent ballad. JD's vocal is great here and properly showcases his own style. The music well arranged and gives a great emotional lift to the lyrics. Granted it's not as memorable as Mystify or Never Tear Us Apart, but it's still a worthy effort for INXS 2.0.
Hot Girls. Looking out my window at some girl as I'm writing this And I watch her eat a peach, the way she's biting it, biting it And I probably shouldn't stare, but I am fighting it, fighting it And I think that she's aware and kind of liking it, liking it Hot girls, they can break me, break me Hot girls, you know what you're doing Now, hot girls, come and break me, break me Hot girls, take me where you are going On her motorbike, the way she's riding it, riding it And she says it feels so good but she is hiding it, hiding it Wet lips to cigarette and now she's striking it, lighting it As she looks me in the eye, hell, she must know she's inviting it Hot girls, they can break me, break me Hot girls, you know what you're doing Now, hot girls, come and break me, break me Hot girls, take me where you are going I've got nothing to prove, ain't got nothing to lose If you need someone to use, I can take the abuse holding up some paper to her window, she's writing her name and number and I'm laughing as I'm dialing it, dialing it I've got nothing to prove, ain't got nothing to lose If you need someone to use, I can take the abuse Hot girls, they can break me, break me Hot girls, you know what you're doing Now, hot girls, come and break me, break me Hot girls, take me where you are going Hot girls, they can break me, break me Hot girls, you know what you're doing Now, hot girls, come and break me, break me Hot girls, take me where you are going Hot girls, hot girls, hot girls, hot girls Songwriters: Lauren Christy / Graham Edwards / Scott Spock / Guy Antony Chambers / Andrew Charles Farriss Hot Girls lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. We open with bass and a moderate beat , and a counter melody guitar comes in. A pretty steady start. Here we have a straight up lust song, and it has quite a few hooks in there. I think the double word at the end of those verse lines works quite well, but mat perhaps become a little tiring after a few listens. The inserted voices before each verse are novel. One thing that I hear here that is quite striking to me at least, is they have gone for a pretty straight up hard rock chorus. I like the dynamic between the verses and the chorus. We get a sort of double bridge in the middle. The first one being a hard rock extension of the chorus. Then we get a short instrumental section with more girl noises, and then we get a more laid back bridge and we power into the outro choruses. This is another pretty good song, but I get the impression that these days some folks will probably have trouble with the lyrics.
Hot Girls just doesn’t work for me at any level. Fortune can’t sell a raunchy song the way Michael could, and I really miss his vocals here.
It is interesting to me that this has 5 writers.... I wonder if 4 did the lyrics? Andrew has never really needed help putting the music together, so it just seems odd. I don't think it's just the vocal delivery.... I can't see Michael really writing this, without leaving a bit of mystery in the lyrics.... I'm certainly not offended by the lyrics, but they seem more like lyrics I would expect from an eighties hard rock band .... and I can see the video that goes with that too. It is disappointing, particularly with it having such a nice rock edge to it.
Afterglow 4/5. Interesting song, which Andrew wrote from the heart. Now, he was a true friend to Michael. Can't imagine what he feels like to this day that his partner is missing. Hot Girls 3/5. Like the heaviness, but leaves me scratching my head that guys at their age were singing this...
Hot Girls is quite possibly the WORST song in INXS' catalogue (Deliver Me is its only contender). I could barely get through it when I first heard it 15 years ago. And nothing has changed since then...
Hot Girls: Yeahhhh this song. I do like the 80s throwback of it, however the song as a whole makes me cringe.
My two cents worth on Switch and the J.D. Fortune era: The most telling thing for me on Mark's leading post on the album is, when you look at the back cover there's a series of brands, the first being "INXS", then the various management and record labels. They are featured as a brand on the back cover of their own album. I don't know the whole story and I didn't watch the show, but a friend had the CD and it seemed to me that INXS were essentially 'actors'. Someone had devised the idea of the show (I believe other singer-less bands featured in subsequent seasons?), there was an executive producer who cast various talent creators and devised the story arcs and, like most music based reality TV, the story's final act is the viewer then going to buy the record. I'm sure the TV producers weren't being intentionally evil, but what's missing from a musical (as opposed to TV) point of view is the very important idea that a band is a purposeful autonomous creative entity. It feels to me that the band signed away their likeness and their creative independence and were basically agreeing to 'play' INXS. I dug Pretty Vegas and especially Hungry and I actually saw them playing with Simple Minds up in the wine country north of Sydney (but our friends staked out an area way too far away from the stage so it wasn't much of a vibe), so there were some good tunes and he was a good (if hardly original) lead singer. But I wasn't surprised to hear Fortune upset that the band apparently dropped him off at the airport after the tour with 10 bucks in his pocket: he was an actor and the play had finished, the circus had left town. I dunno. I imagine it would be really hard to give it all away once you've tasted that level of success, so I can understand their reluctance to stop altogether, but this was all a bit corporate and 'brand synergy' for me.
